Cannabis & 3D Printing

This might just sound like the stereotypical lazy stoner dream, but 3D printed cannabis and related paraphernalia is a very near future we could all be experiencing. As technology advances and the conversation surrounding legal cannabis shifts, we are seeing an overlapping bridge coming into place between the two. These societal bends manifest a change in our relationship with cannabis, medicine, food, and technology. From sculptural bongs to specifically dosed edibles there is an exciting 3D printed future ahead of us!

Imagine this: It’s 2 AM and your bong shatters into pieces. Instead of running to the nearest convenience store or head shop only to find out its closed, you 3D print a brand new bong without leaving your couch! Or even better, you print your best friend’s face as the bowl piece, or a pipe in the shape of your favourite food. The ability to print cannabis-related paraphernalia such as bongs, pipes, and grinders has been available for a reasonable amount of time now. The exciting point comes when accessibility is so enhanced that the average person will have these technologies in their home. You will be able to type into your search engine anything you’d like to print, find endless downloadable 3D designs, choose one that suits you best and have it printed into your hands in an extremely short period of time. If there is a specific project you want to embark on, such as printing your friends head as a bowl piece, you may have to expand your understanding of designing for a 3D print or approach a preexisting 3D printing company to help you out. Innovative companies such as Printabowl are taking cannabis printables to a whole new artful level with sculpturally stunning bongs.

If you have a green thumb and growing cannabis is legal where you live then why not piece together a 3D printed hydroponics farm. Cannabis is one of many options, you can also grow a variety of different plants as well. 3DPonics goal is to increase accessibility and shift our perception of urban gardening by incorporating technology into our greens. Through the 3DPonics website, you can download blueprints to each piece of what would be a farm, then put them together like legos or IKEA furniture. Unlike IKEA furniture, however, if you are missing a piece you can easily reprint it to infinity. They are even expanding into the beyond with space farming which will enhance efficiency in how food is consumed and treated in space.

The ability to print cannabis related objects seems pretty obvious by this point, but what about actually printing the cannabis. Current 3D printing works with filaments, similar to the ink in a normal printer. So far we’ve seen 3d printers using mostly plastics filaments, however, the use of organic natural filaments is a growing reality at the moment. We are seeing food, bug, and cannabis filaments being brought into public’s eye. Companies such as Potent Rope and Kanesis are making cannabis filaments more accessible. Having this technical ability will enhance how we interact with cannabis, we will be able to dose a specific amount, in any shape and form. Using organic filaments such as hemp also provides an environmentally friendly, biodegradable approach to 3D printing.

With so many different 3D food printers already available on the market such as the Foodini it is very likely 3D printed edibles will be a highly accessible future. Using cannabis filaments there are endless possibilities! While this all sounds like fun and games, 3d printable marijuana and related items will also play an important role in the medical world. Companies such as Syqe Medical have created the world’s first medical marijuana inhaler. It comes with preloaded cartridges so that you can deliver the exact dose needed. Working towards making an accessible future for medicine and pharmaceuticals is crucial at this point in time. In an exciting article published by Science Mag, they discuss a near future when we will be able to 3d print pharmaceuticals in our very own home. Technology will create a whole new realm of personalized treatments, dosing, and individualized healthcare. This can improve healthcare in parts of the world which may have issues accessing medical assistance, specifically pharmaceutical drugs. Increasing individualized accessibility to medical treatments, including medical marijuana, will lead to a future with better healthcare for all.

The merging of technology and cannabis will be bringing a whole new world of how we interact with this wonderful plant. Medical marijuana will become highly personalized, as will medicine, technology, and the entire future which awaits us. From smartphones to smart cars and smart homes the next step is smart pot! Comment down below your predictions for the future of tech & cannabis! Have you ever 3D printed cannabis or related paraphernalia?